ABSTRACT
Until 1989-1990, most Soviet movies were vehicles for the propagation of neo-Leninism and liberal socialism. Despite all their criticisms of Soviet society, filmmakers still felt themselves linked to the ideas of socialism. The dominant ideology of the Soviet movie industry in the last year of perestroika stressed individualism, political freedom, democracy, capitalist economy, and universalism in world history. Special targets of cinematographers were the official version of history and Russian national myths incorporated in official ideology. Alla Surikova, in the quasi-historical comedy Cranky People, describes the adventure of Otto von Goerstner. The popularity of absurdity explains why the status of crazy people and former psychiatric patients has changed radically in Russian movies. It is remarkable that with the rejection of socialist realism in the Russian movie industry, and with their new understanding of the arts in other countries, Russian movie critics discovered the extensive role of socialist realism in American movies.
